Glossary of Terms Part 2
Porosity: Being porous; permeable by air, water, etc.
Post-Consumer: Refers to waste from municipal sources, not industrial waste; post-consumer content refers to the amount of recycled material from municipal sources that a product contains, for example, recycled paper may contain 10 percent post-consumer waste, and 30 percent industrial waste (waste salvaged before reaching the consumer).
Precycle: To make purchasing decisions based on whether or not an item is made out of or packaged in materials that are recyclable.
RDF: Abbreviation for refuse derived fuel; a uniform fuel produced from waste, burned as an energy source in waste-to-energy plants.
Recyclable: Waste that can be used again by being manufactured into a new product, i.e., waste that can be recycled.
Recycle/Recycling: A resource recovery method involving the collection and treatment of a waste product for use as a raw material in the manufacture of the same or another product (e.g. ground glass used in the manufacture of new glass).
Recycled: refers to a product that has been made form the reprocessing of waste materials.
Recycling Center: A facility where certain waste materials (e.g. aluminum, glass, paper, etc.) are collected and resold for reprocessing into new products (i.e., recycled).
Reduce: To lessen the amount of waste generated and thus waste disposed; same as source reduction.
Refuse: Useless or unwanted material that are thrown away; another word for solid waste.
Resource Recovery: The extraction and utilization of material which can be used as raw materials in the manufacture of new products, or as values which can be converted into some form of fuel or energy source; an integrated resource recovery program may include recycling, waste-to-energy, composting, and/or other components.
Reusable: Waste materials capable of being used again, either as is, or by creating new uses.
Reuse: To extend the life of an item by using it again as it is, repairing it, or creating new uses for it.
Sanitary landfill: A method of disposing of refuse on land without creating nuisances or hazards to public health or safety. Careful preparation of the fill area, including the use of clay and/or synthetic liners and control of water drainage are required to assure proper landfilling. To confine the refuse to the smallest piratical area and reduce it to the smallest practical volume, heavy equipment is used to spread, compact, and cover the waste daily with at least six inches of compacted dirt; after the area has been completely filled and covered with a final two-or three-foot layer of dirt and seeded with grass, the reclaimed land may be turned into a recreational are such as a part or a golf course. Sanitary landfills have leachate collection systems, methane gas controls, and environmental monitoring systems.
Solid Waste: All useless, unwanted or discarded material: refuse, trash, garbage, debris.
Solid Waste Management: the systematic administration of activities which provide for the collection, separation, storage, transportation, transfer, processing, treatment, and disposal, of our solid waste.
Solid Waste Stream: the flow of waste from its source (e.g., households) to its final end use or disposal site.
Source Reduction: To reduce the amount of waste generated that must eventually be discarded, including minimizing toxic substances in products, minimizing volumes of products and extending products’ useful lives; requires manufactures and consumers to take an active role in reducing the amount of waste that is produced.
Source Separation: the segregation of various materials from the waste stream at the point of generation from recycling (e.g., householders separating paper, metal, and glass from the rest of their waste).
Transfer Station: An intermediate collection facility which temporarily holds solid waste en route to the landfill; materials are often sorted and diverted for recycling or energy recovery.
Trash: Useless or unwanted materials that are thrown away; synonym for waste.
Waste: Useless or unwanted material that are discarded in appropriate trash receptacles or littered.
Waste-to-energy: A recovery process where waste is burned as received or after being processed to a more uniform fuel, to generate steam or electricity.
Waste-to-energy incineration: Disposal method where municipal solid waste is brought to a facility for energy recovery (See waste-to-energy).
This is DAY 20 of my “28 Day Blogging Challenge“
